John Parks claimed Lake Oswego High School in Oregon fired him because he proposed an open category for males who want to compete in female sports.
Apparently, Parks “antagonized” one male athlete who competed in female categories and got others to protest his participation.
Funny thing is…Parks suggested the change after he heard the crowd booing Aayden Gallagher after he won the 200m championship in May.
Parks told KATU, “I want them to be able to participate where they’re not ‘booed.'”
But, like any normal person, Parks also wants fairness for females in female categories.
John Parks wrote two letters to Peter Weber, the Executive Director of the Oregon Student Activities Association, and state Sen. Rob Wagner before and after the state championships in May, respectively.In the letters, Parks wrote that current state law, which protects athletes who wish to compete against the gender that aligns with their gender identity, compromises the integrity of girls’ sports.”The OSAA competition rules need to be aligned with what the rest of the world competes under,” Parks wrote to Wagner, referring to hormone testing requirements enforced by the International Olympic Committee and other organizations. “My proposal to encourage transgender participation is to offer an open division that is so named so it doesn’t identify or discriminate but offers an opportunity to participate.”
“Allowing this travesty to be carried out is making a complete mockery of the meet this weekend and in the future until the rules are altered to protect natural born females,” Parks added.
Portland Public Schools Athletic Director Marshall Haskins claimed Parks made the male athlete feel “unwelcome and discriminated against” all spring in a letter to the Lake Oswego School District and Salem-Keizer School District.
“I was appalled, disappointed and embarrassed for Lake Oswego and Salem Keizer School districts because of the behavior of one of your employees,” wrote Haskins.
WOW:
Haskins claimed that Parks contacted other coaches and parents from around the state, asking them to reach out to the OSAA demanding they bar the transgender athlete from the female competition. He also asked coaches to boycott the medal presentations, Haskins said.The letter from Haskins also claims that Parks was contacting families and student-athletes before the state meet “forcing them to participate in his personal agenda.” Haskins also claimed that Parks was “riling up” tournament spectators who booed and jeered at the state meet as the transgender athlete competed and received her medals.Haskins alleged that Parks spoke negatively with the transgender student-athlete during her medal presentation.A person with direct knowledge of the situation told The Oregonian/OregonLive that Parks’ remark to the student athlete was: “It will never be a fair race if you’re in it.”
Parks denies the allegations.
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